Back in the Saddle and Feeding the Fish

I have not ridden in three weeks due to a lack of time and some physical restrictions. I had to have a very minor surgery a couple of weeks ago and riding was on the ‘no’ list for a couple of weeks although after a couple of days I could do all of my usual farm work. The week before that I was busy finishing up the last couple of days of dental appointments and just generally busy. I was very happy to get back in the saddle today. It was another gorgeous day today and perfect for enjoying the horses. I hopped on Sky for a few minutes and of course had very low expectations after three weeks off. I was only on her for 15 minutes total.

Too my great surprise I had one of my best rides yet on her. She remembered everything we had been working on as far as contact, pushing from behind, lifting her back, being on the bit, it was like we had not missed a day. I mostly walked with a few minutes of trotting and two 20 meter canter circles. I was expecting we would regress in our progress so I was very pleasantly surprised. She had lots of patting and heard “good girl!” over and over. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to ride both Sky and Bonnie. We all know Bonnie does best with consistent work, but maybe Sky has set the tone and Bonnie will give me a pleasant surprise as well.

Sky lifted her head from grazing for a moment when I took her picture

Things have been pleasantly routine around the farm the last few days. In an interesting herd dynamic note MyLight has become the definite boss mare in her group. The mares and Cuffie are always an interesting and entertaining group, you will recall the